与巨人共舞
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总结 绝大多数“大卫—歌利亚”式的分销协议都类似于我们在2003年与惠普公司的合作：只不过是一种不错的公关手段而已（注1） 另一方面，找到合适的伙伴签署合适的分销协定（比如Opsware公司与思科的合作）可以带来真正的变革。在制定合作伙伴战略时，需要考虑以下这4个金科玉律： 1. 质量比数量更重要：一个构架良好的合作关系所产生的影响和可支持度远远胜过许多毫无效力的分销协议。 2. 任务明确：提前花些时间来搞清楚你和合作伙伴的目标究竟是什么。 3. 要求对方给予硬性承诺：大公司很容易分心。有约束力的承诺有助于合作伙伴集中注意，使其在协议签订很久之后依然保持着兑现诺言的动力（注意，这意味着要找到一位有权力作出承诺的资深高管）。 4. 你也应给予对方硬性承诺：为了让合作伙伴获得成功，你需要做出大量的投资。诸如销售和产品支持，以及不计渠道的奖励政策这类承诺值得付出，唯此才能回报合作伙伴对你作出的承诺。 只有极少数初创企业会投资于战略性商业拓展计划，以系统性地接触潜在的合作伙伴，进而在机会来临时创造出具有变革意义的伙伴关系。作为一家软件企业，Opsware公司的投资在其成立仅3年之后就取得了回报。跟Loudcloud-EDS交易和随后的并购行动一样，与思科公司的合作这个案例同样显示了战略性商业拓展的威力。 本文作者约翰•奥法雷尔是安德里森霍洛维茨公司（Andreessen Horowitz）的普通合伙人。约翰主导了公司注资Facebook、Twitter和团购网站Groupon等公司，并在合作伙伴、战略性交易和全球扩张等事务上与其所投资的公司进行了广泛的合作。在进入安德里森霍洛维茨公司之前，约翰曾经在银泉网络（Silver Spring Networks）、Opsware和Excite @ Home等公司担任执行副总裁职务。在职业生涯早期，约翰曾在美国和欧洲工作过，先后就职于美国西部（US WEST）、博思艾伦（Booz Allen）、爱尔兰电信（Telecom Ireland）、欧盟委员会（EU Commission）数字设备（Digital Equipment ）和西门子 （Siemens）等公司或机构。约翰拥有斯坦福大学商学院（the Stanford Graduate School of Business）MBA学位和都柏林大学（University College Dublin）电子工程学士学位。他会讲英语，德语，法语和葡萄牙语。约翰的博客地址是：http://john.a16z.com/。 【注1】请注意，我们跟惠普公司合作其实是出于公关宣传的目的，惠普方面也持有同样的看法，所以说这次合作达到了事先目的。对外宣布许多轻量级的“合作关系”以展示自身的整合能力并赢得市场声誉，或许讲得通，但不要指望这些合作伙伴能产生收入，务必要确保公司上下也明白这个道理。 译者： 任文科 |
In summary Like Opsware's 2003 HP deal, the vast majority of David-Goliath type distribution deals don't deliver beyond PR[1]. On the other hand, like Opsware's Cisco deal, the right distribution deal with the right partner can be truly transformative. In formulating your partner strategy, consider four golden rules: 1. Quality trumps quantity: One well-constructed partnership will have far more impact, and be far more supportable, than lots of toothless arrangements. 2. Mission clarity: Invest the time up front to get crystal-clear on your objectives and those of your partner. 3. Demand hard commitments: Big companies are easily distracted. Binding commitments focus the mind and create incentive to deliver long after the deal is signed. (Note this means finding a senior executive sponsor with the authority to commit.) 4. Make hard commitments in return: You will need to invest substantially in making your partner successful. Commitments like sales and product support and channel-neutral compensation are worth making in return for the right commitment from your partner. Only a few startups invest in the ongoing BD effort to systematically cover the landscape of potential partners and create that game-changing partnership when the opportunity presents itself. For Opsware, that investment paid off three years after our start as a software company. Like the Loudcloud-EDS deal and the M&A campaign that followed, the Cisco partnership provides another example of the power of strategic business development. John O'Farrell is a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz. John led the firm's investments in Facebook, Twitter and Groupon, and works with portfolio companies on partnering, strategic transactions and global expansion. Prior to Andreessen Horowitz, John held Executive Vice President positions at Silver Spring Networks, Opsware and Excite@Home. Earlier in his career, John worked in the United States and Europe with US WEST, Booz Allen, Telecom Ireland, the EU Commission, Digital Equipment and Siemens. John has an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a Bachelor of Electronic Engineering from University College Dublin. He speaks English, German, French and Portuguese. John blogs at http://john.a16z.com/. [1] Note that our objective (and HP's) for the HP deal was in fact PR, so it met its objective. It may well make sense to announce lots of lightweight "partnerships" to demonstrate integration and gain market credibility—just don't expect them to generate revenue, and make sure the company understands that too. |
